
GeoPark Holdings Limited announced the successful drilling, testing and putting into production of a new oil well in the Tua oil field on the Llanos 34 Block in Colombia. GeoPark that also has drilled for oil in southern Chile and Argentina operates and has a 45% working interest in the Llanos 34 Block.

Next week Chile and Peru will have concluded sweeping their border of anti personnel and anti tank mines, announced Claudio de la Puente, head of the Latin American Desk at the Peruvian Foreign ministry.

Mexico said it would drop a complaint over import curbs against Argentina before the World Trade Organization after the two countries signed a more limited automobile trade pact.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde described Chile as one the most stable and prosperous nations in South America which has enjoyed robust growth over the last decade, but also warned it remains exposed to shifts in commodity prices.

Paraguay’s industrial union, UIP, lashed at Mercosur over the incorporation of Venezuela as a full member and Argentina’s reiterated lack of respect for signed agreements and understandings.

Uruguay’s economy grew faster than economists expected in the third quarter, spurred by increased construction, transportation and communications activity. GDP expanded 3% from a year earlier, the central bank said on Thursday on its website. The economy grew 1.2 percent from the second quarter, the bank said.

The IMF said Thursday that it was unlikely to take action on Argentina failure to supply accurate statistical data before January, if the country misses a deadline next Monday.

The European Union Trade Commissioner openly accused “Argentina’s behaviour” as the main obstacle in discussions to advance and reach a free trade agreement with Mercosur.

Venezuelan doctor Jose Rafael Marquina, who is based in the US and is known for his accurate prognoses on President Hugo Chavez’s health, told a local Florida radio that the Venezuelan leader Chavez has “between two and three months to live”.

Panama filed a dispute against Argentina at the World Trade Organization on Wednesday alleging the government of President Cristina Fernandez had broken WTO rules by discriminating against imports of goods and services.